The Curtis Childhoods
by purplepheonixowl
Summary: This is the story of the Curtis's childhood. Please Review!
1. Chapter 1

**The Curtis Childhood**

**Chapter 1: Darry**

It was the year 1946 and World War 2 had just finished. Soldiers came home to their wives to start families. Yes, babies were sweeping the county. This also pertains to a young couple in Tulsa. Susan and Darryl Curtis had married fresh out of High School, right after Darryl had been drafted. Susan waited for Darryl like a good house wife. Then, when the war was over, the happy couple do what all the other happy couples were doing and one morning Susan announced she was pregnant. The next nine months were hard, Darryl had a tough time finding a job he could hold for his developing family while Susan had to experience the joys and pains of pregnancy. Then, one night, Darryl was sitting in his armchair when his young wife com running from the kitchen.

"Darryl! My water just broke." She screamed. Darryl jumped from his chair.

"Okay, we know what to do. We need to drive calmly to the hospital. Do you know where the prepared bag is?" Darryl asked calmly. Of course, Darryl had never dealt with a women in labor so he was brutally surprised by her response.

"Bag? Screw the bag! I'm in pan. Get me to the hospital or I'll _show_ you what it feels like." Now scared. Darryl ran to the door and held it open for his wife. She screamed at him to hurry up the whole way, even though he tried to keep the speed limit at first, finally just gave up and sped the entire way. They ran into the maternity room which was filled with about a thirty other wailing pregnant woman because the baby boom had began. Susan got stuffed into a over-crowded delivery room and her faithful husband was at her side the entire time. Not that she didn't notice.

"Darryl, you asshole! This is all your fault! If you ever touch me again Ill make sure you-ARRRRRRRGH!" She screamed as doctor came rushing over.

"Ah, yes, she ready to start pushing. Nurse? Could you please come and assist them?" A nurse came and the doctor was off running to help some other screaming woman. Susan Curtis was still calling her husband every name she could think of and the nurse was telling to push. In less than fifteen minutes, a beautiful baby boy had been born. Wrapping up the newborn with a blue blanket, the nurse handed the babe over to the happy couple before she was called to help deliver another baby.

"Aww, he so beautiful. Look at those eyes." Susan cooed, holding her new son close.

"What do we call him." The dad whispered.

"Darryl, after his daddy." Susan said, still looking at the baby.

"And we can have his middle name be your dad's. Shayne. Darryl Shayne Curtis Jr."

"I like it." Susan said, looking up.

And thus, the Curtis family was started.

**A/N: Really short chapter, but more is coming, promise. Please Review**


	2. Siblings

**Chapter 2: Sibling**

It had been three years since Darrel Jr. had been born and the Curtis family was quite happy. Their four year old son was a healthy and happy baby boy and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis couldn't be happier. That is until Mrs. Curtis came back from the doctor with exciting news.

"Darrel," She said happily. "We're going to have another one!"

"Another what?" Her husband asked, playing with his son.

"Another baby!" That got his attention.

"A-a-another baby?" He stuttered. Darrel looked to see why his father had stopped playing with him.

"What baby?" The boy demanded to know.

"Darrel, mommy is going to have a baby! Isn't that great!." However, the four your old seemed to think otherwise."

"Don't want a baby." His father tried this time.

"But son, you get to have a new baby brother!"

"Or sister." Susan Curtis put in.

"Or sister." Darrel Jr. looked from his mother and father and repeated,

"Don't want a baby." Susan and Darrel Sr. exchanged glances and decided that it was just normal sibling rivalries already starting. The next nine months for Susan were similar to her first. She had the usual amount of morning sickness and cravings, the only thing different was fact that she had to spend nine months trying to sway her young son from his set decision. However, every time one of his parents approached him with the subject, the toddler just said 'No Baby' and ran off. It was one week toward the end Susan's pregnancy and the entire family as sitting in the living room, relaxing. Susan was laying on the couch watching TV, Darrel Sr. was sitting in his recliner, reading a newspaper, and Darrel Jr. was playing with a toy car. Darrel looked at his mother's now large stomach and went to his father.

"When will the baby go away?" Darrel asked his dad innocently.

"What son?"

"The baby mommy says she's having. I want it to go away." Darrel Jr. stated firmly. Susan watched as the dad struggled to come up with response.

"But son, you'll like the new baby! In fact, think of all the fun opportunities you'll have. If it's a boy, you get to teach him how to play sports! And if it's a girl, you get to help daddy prep all his guns when she starts dating. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"No. I don't want a baby brother."

"Or sister." Susan reminded him.

"_Or_ sister."

"Son, I don't get it? Why not? What is so bad about a new sibling?" Darrel thought a moment before answering.

"When mommy brought her friend from across the street over with her son, Jimmy, he told me all about having a new sister."

"You mean Betty? I forgot about that. What did Jimmy say?" Mrs. Curtis put down her knitting and looked up.

"He said a baby never shuts up and the parents always pay attention to it more than you."

"And how do you know that's true?"

"Because Jimmy's _six_. He knows _everything_." The Curtis parents nodded in understanding.

"There is a simple fix to this." Mr. Curtis stated. "_You_ need to stop listening to other boys. And _you_ need to stop inviting other boys and their mothers over." Mrs. Curtis sent her husband look but went back to her knitting.

"Darrel, listen. At first, yes, the baby will make noise and yes, it will seem like we pay more attention to the baby than you. But we have to. A baby can't take care of or defend itself, so we have to do it, and trust me, it's a lot of work. We will still love you the same and once things settle down and the baby gets older, things will go back to normal. But then you'll have a play mate who will play cars and steal your things when you get older."

"Why?"

"Well, because-oh, let's leave that for when your older. Do you feel better about the new baby?" Darrel Jr. nodded and got off his father lap to play toys.

"Told you he'd eventually come around." Darrel Sr. said to his pregnant wife he merely rolled her eyes.

**Later**

It was finally the day that the baby would come, and Darrel Jr. couldn't be less excited. Sure, he had told his father he was excited, and he had been, but now he was worried. What if his parents really liked the new baby more than him, like Jimmy had said? Now he was dreading the new arrival. His mother had been screaming for the past four hours and Darrel had no idea why. He had really wanted to go see his mother in that room they had taken her in after she peed all over the floor, but the nurse hadn't let him. This had all started at home. They had been eating dinner and Darrel was just about to ask for some more milk when his mommy screamed. She stood up just as a ton of liquid wet her dress. Darrel at first laughed because he had thought mother had wet herself, but his father started panicking, picking him up and ushering mommy out to the car. Daddy had drove very fast and mommy kept screaming and saying they were closer. Darrel had no idea what she was talking about, but daddy obviously new, because he would drive even faster. They arrived in the hospital and daddy had grabbed him out of the seat and half carried both him and mommy into the hospital. After that, Darrel had been forced to sit sill in his chair like a good boy. They didn't have any picture books to read. The nurse lady had been constantly watching him disdainfully. Darrel didn't know what her problem was, but he sure didn't like her. The screaming finally stopped and a new sound was replaced. A small crying. The baby. Darrel couldn't stand it anymore. He got up and ran for the room, despite the angry nurse lady's yelling. His mother walking in a bed, looking all sweaty and tired and his daddy was standing next to her, watching s a whole bunch of nurse ladies and a doctor wiped a ugly pink blob. Darrel watched as they wrapped the pink blob in a blue blanket ad handed it to daddy, who in turn handed it to mommy. Darrel approached and both looked up from the blanket.

"Darrel, come see. You have a new baby brother!" Ugh, a boy. Secretly, Darrel had been wishing for a brother, but he had to keep up appearances. He approached any way and his daddy held him up and set him on the bed next to his mommy. Darrel looked at the blanket. The think inside was all pink and shriveled up. It didn't even have its eyes open.

"Why is he all pink and shriveled up?" Darrel asked disdainfully.

"He'll get plumper in a few days. He'll also los the pink color." His father informed him. Darrel only heard pert of this because at that moment the baby opened its eyes. Darrel stared into the pretty brown eyes and couldn't help but fall in love. The baby looked so helpless and it was looking straight at him. Darrel gave it a secret smile.

"Aww, he's awake. Darrel. What should we call him?" Mrs. Curtis turning to her husband.

"Sodapop!" Both his son and wife looked at him oddly.

"Sodapop?"

"Yes! T's perfect. He'll be the only person in Tulsa with the name Sodapop."

"He'll be the only person in the world with the name Sodapop." Susan muttered, looking at her baby.

"Please, Susan. I like it and I' sure he will too." Darrel Sr. pleaded.

"Fine, but I pick out his middle name. Patrick."

"Why Patrick?"

"I like the name."

"Fine, it's settled. The new baby's name is Sodapop Patrick Curtis." Darrel Curtis couldn't help but snort at the new baby's goofy name. Not that either of his parents noticed. They were too busy cooing over Sodapop Patrick Curtis.


	3. Nighttime Teachings

**A/N: I realize that Darrel is supposed to be called Darry, but that doesn't come until next chapter. Also, I'm going have to start adding ages.**

**Chapter 3-Nighttime Lessons**

**Darrel: 4**

**Sodapop: 3 months**

Things had definitely not settled down in the Curtis house, a point Darrel Jr. was only happy to point out daily. Every night, Darrel would wake up to the baby wailing in the next room and he would have to wait for his parents to wake to the baby's cries. Then, they would shush him and eventually the baby would stop crying. One night, Darrel got awoken by the baby's cries and he decided to investigate before his parents stopped him. He tip toed into the baby's nursery and climbed up the wooden crib, peering at the baby. His baby brother stopped crying when he saw his older brother peering at him. Instead, he grinned and began to giggle.

"What's with you anyway? You cry in the middle of the night until someone comes in here to stop you. Don't you know that people are a supposed sleep at night. Course not, you're a baby. Well let me teach you something. When it gets dark like this, you're supposed to sleep, like this." Darrel put his hands together and put his head against them. He pretended to snore. Baby Soda found this enjoyable an began to laugh. Darrel smelled a stench arising from the crib and wrinkled his nose.

"Ugh, and your also supposed to use the potty, not just go in your pants." Soda began to whimper and Darrel decided to split before the baby began to wail and attract his parents caught him. He made in his bed by the time the baby began to wail. Darrel heard his father stumble into the hall and go by his bedroom door on his way to Soda's room. He heard his dad take the baby out of the and soon the crying ceased. A long while after his father went back to his room and Darrel waited until he heard his dad snoring to return to the baby room. He peeked into the crib again and saw his baby brother lying there, staring at the hanging puppies on his mobile.

"Hey, didn't I just teach you about sleeping at night. Why ain't you asleep." Sodapop smiled and gurgled in happiness that his brother had returned. Darrel smiled back at him and decided that maybe the annoying baby brother wasn't so bad, even if he had to lose a few hours of sleep over it.

**A/N: Short chapter so sorry, but I just had to get this in.**


	4. Darry's First Day

**Chapter 4: Darry's First Day**

**Darrel: 5**

**Sodapop: 1 **

It was the first day of school for the oldest Curtis child and everyone was bustling around, getting prepared. Mr. Curtis was greeting ready for work as usual and Mrs. Curtis was helping Darrel Jr. get ready for his first day of kindergarten. She of course, was crying the entire time.

"Oh my baby is going off for his first day of school. I'm so proud of you. Pretty soon Soda will be off too and I'll be all alone all day. Oh you've grown so fast." She wailed, smoothing out Darrel's red overalls. She had dressed him in his best. A clean new pair of red overall's, all she could afford right now, and a clean white undershirt. He would of course have to go back to his other clothes later, but for now he would be dressed nicely. Sodapop was sitting on the floor next to the mother and son, gnawing on a wooden block he had brought from his room.

" 'Arry." He mumbled through his block. Sodapop had lately taken to talking and since he couldn't say his brother's name clearly, he had instead shortened it to 'Arry.

"It's Darrel, Sodapop. Darrel!" Darrel insisted. His mother looked exasperated through her tears.

"Darrel, honey. He doesn't understand. Besides, I think it's kind of cute how he tries to call you Darry."

"What am I milk?" Darrel complained, rubbing a hand through the hair his mother had just attacked with a greased comb. Mrs. Curtis just smiled and picked her one year old off the floor.

"Well, I guess it's time for my big boy to go and be big boy in school."

"It's just kindergarten." She just sniffled. Later, on the ride to school, Darrel tried to strike up a conversation with his younger brother.

"You know, you'll like kindergarten too. You get to make friends with all the other kids and play and stuff."

"And how do you know all this?"

"Jimmy told me."

"The same kid who told you that having a sibling would be the end of the world?"

"Mom, he's in the _second_ grade now. He knows about stuff like school."

"Kool?" Soda spoke up from his car seat.

"No Sodapop. School. With and 'S'"

"Arry Kool?"

"No. _Darrel's_ going to _school_." Mrs. Curtis grinned at her sons antics at trying to get Sodapop to speak in fluent sentences. He may only be in kindergarten, but he was very smart. She wouldn't even be surprised if he skipped a grade. They pulled up in front of the school milling around with children and their parents. Mrs. Curtis had taken it upon herself to make herself and children look upscale and neat. Just because they hailed from the bad part of town didn't mean they had to look it. Several of the young mothers there Mrs. Curtis knew so she was immediately sucked into the conversations of how kids grew up so fast and how big they were. Darrel rolled his eyes and searched the playground for Jimmy Hues, the kid he had not so recently taken to admiring. Jimmy knew just about everything and loved to share it with Darrel. Darrel spotted him by the swing sets with some other second grade boys.

"Hey Jimmy!" Darrel said excitedly, walking up.

"Hey Curtis. Hey, guys, this is Curtis, he's a newbie." Jimmy explained to the rest of the kids. The others nodded and one stepped forward.

"Hey Curtis. I Tim. Tim Shepard. I've heard about your family. My dad says your family is cool." He stated, knocking Darrel softly in the shoulder.

"Cool?" Darrel wasn't exactly sure what he meant but he had to be cool about it in front of the older boys.

"Ya know. Greaser Cool." Darrel still didn't know what it meant, but the kid to be saying it in a friendly way, so he accepted it. Unfortunately, he was embarrassed seconds later as his mother came over with Soda in her arms.

"Darry, it's time to get to class. Come take mama's hand so she can bring you there." Mrs. Curtis said brightly, sticking out her hand for Darrel to come take it, not realizing she was mortifying her own son.

"It's Darrel ma, and I can get there myself." Darrel hissed, his cheeks burning. Mrs. Curtis dropped her hand and looked a bit crestfallen.

"Oh, well. I guess I'm not needed here anymore. Me and Soda are gonna get going I guess. Can I have a hug before I go?" Darrel gave her a quick hug around the legs before stepping back. Would she just get going already?

"Well, bye sweetie. Me and Soda will pick you up by the school sign, okay?"

"Sure mom. Bye." Darrel kinda felt bad for not saying I love you, but he was in front of second graders, he would look stupid if he did that. His mother left dejectedly and Darrel turned back to the guys.

"Man, did your mom just call that baby Soda? What a dumb name." It was the first time Darrel had ever felt ashamed of his younger brother's name. He thought quick.

"No, it's just a nickname. His real name is Patrick." It was awful, lying to these boys to look better, but Darrel hated getting laughed at. The boys milled around for a while afterward, then the bell rang and Darrel was off to his first day of school.


	5. Another Baby

**Chapter 5: Another Baby**

**Darrel: 6**

**Sodapop: 2**

**Ponyboy: 0**

It was in the middle of November, and the leaves turning god while the air turned crisp. Six year old Darrel Curtis Jr. was sitting at the table, finishing his math homework when his two year old brother came running into the kitchen.

"What's a-preg-a-nant?" Darry looked up from his little brother.

"Why? Where did you hear it?"

"Mama. She's a-preg-a-nant."

"It's pregnant, and that's impossible. Mom wouldn't have another baby. She has us" But not even Darry was convinced by what he said. He put down he work and followed Soda back out to the living room, where their mother was smiling and straightening the living room.

"Hey, mom, are you pregnant?" Darry asked. Their mother stopped smiling and working and looked at both her sons.

"Where did you hear that?"

"Sodapop said he heard you say it." Now Mrs. Curtis got an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Well children. You know how mommy has been getting sick in the morning and not feeling well?"

"You said you had a fever." What worried Darry was that his mother hadn't denied the accusation that she was pregnant.

"Mommy was wrong. She went to see Dr. Winters yesterday and he found out I'm pregnant. Isn't that great?" There was a silence before Darry exploded.

"No! I don't want another brother! I already have one!" He yelled.

"Darrel Shaynne Curtis Jr.! What kind of example are you setting for your little brother? You know perfectly well that having a sibling isn't that bad." Darry groaned and slumped onto the couch. He had thought that having one sibling was quite enough. He didn't want another annoying baby.

"Are you sure you're not just sick?  
"Darrel…"

"Sorry! I just wanted to know." Sodapop jumped onto his brother's lap as Mrs. Curtis went upstairs to her room.

"No baby?"

"There just annoying."

"Was I annoying?"

"Very." He didn't feel like discussing this with his young brother.

"Why?"

"Because you never stopped crying and Mommy and Daddy spent all her time with you."

"Is that gonna happen to us?" Soda asked, his eyes going huge.

"Yeah, you especially."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, since you're the youngest, mom will practically forget you even exist."

"Why will she 'member you?"

"Because I'm older. I can help her with the baby and stuff, so she'll notice."

"I can help with the baby."

"No, you're too young." Sodapop started to cry and Darry set him on the ground, his work done. He went back to the table before his mother came.

"Soda, what's wrong?" His mother came running downstairs at her youngest child's cries.

"No baby!"

"Oh not you too! Why not?"

"You'll forget me and love Darry and the baby more!" There was a beat of silence and Darry cringed. He knew his mother would know it was him who put those ideas in to his brother's head.

"DARREL SHAYNNE CURTIS JR. YOU GET IN HERE THIS _INSTANT_!" His mother screamed and Darry winced again. Now he was gonna get.

"Yes mother?"

"What have you been telling your younger brother?"

"I was just telling him the affects of having another baby."

"Make the new baby go away!" Sodapop wailed from his mother's arms.

"Shush Soda. Darrel, if you say one more negative thing about this child, you'll wish you had never been born. Do I make myself clear? Your father will have a talk with you when he gets home." Darry nodded. His mother now tried to calm his wailing brother and Darry went back to his math problems. Faster than he would have like, Darrel's father came home, and Darry could hear his mother and father whispering in the other room. Then his dad came into the kitchen and sat across from him.

"I heard you gave your mom some trouble today."

"Why are we having another baby. I already have a younger brother. I don't need another one."

"Son, you might be wrong about this whole baby thing. You were wrong about Soda, remember?"

"I'm happy with just one sibling dad. Can't you make the other one go away?"

"No son, just like I couldn't get rid of Sodapop, I can't get rid of the unborn child. You know, you're gonna end up wrong, just like you were with Sodapop. Now go apologize to your mother and stop telling Sodapop things." Darry frowned but went ahead and did as he was told. For Darry, the next nine months were catastrophic. Now that he was older, his parents expected him to do more this such as watch Sodapop, do the dishes, help take care of his mother, d help set up a new nursery. By the fourth month, Darry was sick and tired of it, but his mother only gave him a dirty look and ranted about how hard it was to be pregnant when he tried to complain. Darry didn't know exactly what pregnancy was, but whatever it was, it caused his mother to eat a lot and get fat. Not that he would say anything about it. He vaguely remembered back when he was four he had commented about her weight gain and she had burst into tears and he had late been reamed by his father. He refused to make that mistake again. But Soda wasn't.

"Why mommy's belly so big?" Soda confided in his brother one boring afternoon.

"Because she eats a lot."

"Why?"

"Because she's waiting for the baby."

"Where's the baby?"

"The stork has it."

"What's a stork."

"A big bird. Now will you stop asking questions?"

One afternoon, a whole bunch of woman came over and Darry and Soda had to dress nice and be polite while their mother sat with the ladies and unwrapped a whole bunch gifts. Darry had thought it was her birthday, but when he asked, she said it was a 'baby shower'. Darry had no idea what the shower thing had to do with this, but the baby thing defiantly applied. All of the gifts had to do with the baby. His mother unwrapped diapers, bibs, pacifiers, blankets, and these weird baby clothes cold 'onsies'. They kinda looked like that thing the girl down the street wore when she went to ballet, but smaller. His mother received a ton of those in a whole bunch of colors. She also got a lot of bottles. It was pretty boring for both of the Curtis children, but they were forced to sit in the living room and endure it instead of playing outside. A lot of the women squeezed Soda and Darry's cheeks, making comments on how adorable they were, but neither liked it much. Finally, the annoying women left and Mrs. Curtis and her family where left o clean up the mess. It was mostly Mrs. Curtis and Darry who cleaned up, but Soda did put in his contribution. Not much could be said for Mr. Curtis, who had the luck of working all day. So, as the months went by, Mrs. Curtis got bigger and bigger and the children waited for the stork to bring their new baby sister or brother. Both Soda and Darry and told each other they wanted a brother, only because girls were annoying. On the night of July 22nd, both boys were asleep when a scream tore through the house. Darry sat straight up in his bed as his father came running in, switching on the light.

"Was' goin' on?" Darry mumbled sleepily.

"Darry, your mother has gone into labor. You need to get dressed and help me with Soda. We need to hurry." Darry sleepily got up and began tugging on a jacket with the help of his father. He went to find his shoes while his father went to get Soda up. Within five minutes, everyone was in the car along with a crying Mrs. Curtis. Soda yawned and fell asleep against Darry's shoulder.

"Where are we going dad?" Darry yawned from the back seat.

"To the hospital. Your mother is having the baby." Mrs. Curtis gave a screech, startling Sodapop awake again. They drove to the hospital fast, just like Darry remembered, but this time they didn't make it far before a siren on behind them. With a bunch of audible cursing, Darrel pulled the car over and rolled down his window as an officer approached.

"Sir, can I see your license and registration please?" Despite his wife's hissed profanity, Darrel calmly searched through his glove box for his registration. After producing this, he dug his wallet out of his pants pocket. The police officer looked at both of the requested items.

"Thank you sir, o you realize you were going eighty on a fifty mph street. What seems to be the rush?"

"Well you see sir my wife is in labor and I need to get her and my two sons to the hospital." For the first time, the cop noticed the p-oed pregnant lady in the front seat and the two sleepy boys in the back seat.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Please be on your way." Then the cop backed away from the car.

"Fucking police, getting into everyone's business. Would you hurry up Darrel. Unless you want this child born in this caAAAAARGH!" Mrs. Curtis screamed as another contraction occurred.

"I'm hurrying." And so he was. They arrived at the hospital in minuets due to the high speeds Darrel Curtis employed. Sodapop had to be dragged by Darry, who had to follow closely behind his running parents.

"Dad, where are we going?" Darry whined. He was tired and didn't appreciate being dragged out of bed.

"To. The. Maternity. Ward." His father said breathlessly, taking a sharp turn to the left. They were there. Screams surrounded them and another scream from Mrs. Curtis joined them. Darry managed to half drag half carry Sodapop over to some chars in the waiting room. Soda had fallen asleep and he looked like he would be staying that way for a while. Darry leaned his head on his brothers and fell asleep in seconds.

**A/N: I know Ponyboy was supposed to be born on July 23****rd****, or something like that, and he will be. The chapter was getting too long though, so I had to shorten it. Please review!**


	6. Another Baby Part 2

**Chapter 6: Another Baby Part 2**

**Darrel: 6**

**Sodapop: 2**

**Ponyboy: 0-1 week**

When Darry awoke, it was bright and sunny, the windows streaming sunlight on his face. He yawned and blinked. Wait, this wasn't his house. Everything was wrong and it smelled gross. He sat up, startled, and knocked Soda's head off him. Then it came back to Darry, they had all been rudely awoken last night by a baby. Darry wasn't sure where his parents were and he spotted a service desk close by. He made sure Soda was alright before approaching the desk. It was a pretty young nurse who manned the desk, not the mean ugly lady from the last time Darry had been in this ward.

"Hello young man! Can I help you?"

"My parents are here."

"Oh, can you tell me your last name?"

"Curtis." Darry looked back to Sodapop, who was stirring.

"Yes, there in room 125 right now." Darry only caught the number as Soda had woken up and began to cry when he saw he was by himself.

"Thank you!" He cried, running back to the chairs. Soda stopped instantly when he saw Darry.

"Where we are?" He demanded to know.

"At the hospital. C'mon, we'll find mom and dad." He stuck out his hand for the child to take, but Soda wanted to be carried. Sighing, Darry gave in and was about to pick him up when he felt something wet on Soda's pants.

"Ewww, Soda. What did I tell you about using the potty?"

"Sorry. Soda stuck his bottom lip out, about to cry."

"Oh, stop that, I'm not yelling at you. Now we need to find mommy and daddy so they can change your nappy." Soda accepted his brother's hand this time and they set out down the hall. Room 125 had its door closed, so Darry attentively knocked. No sound came from it as Darry gently pushed the door open. There were three beds in the room and one occupied his sleeping mother. In a chair next to the bed, his father was also snoozing lightly. Careful not to wake the other sleeping girls in the room, Darry and Soda tip toed to their mother's bed. Darry had to help Sodapop up on the bed, which woke up their mother.

"Wha?" Oh hi boy's. What are you doing in here?" Sodapop looked around.

"Where's the baby?"

"Hm? Oh, he's sleeping. You guys can see him later."

"He? It's a boy?" Darry asked, his hopes rising. Another boy would a lot better than some girl.

"Mm hm. It's a boy. Are you guys' hungry?" She asked sleepily, turning to wake up her husband.

"What's wrong Susan?"

"The boys need food. Can you take them down to the cafeteria?" Darrel yawned and nodded.

"Yeah, sure. C'mon boys. Let's get some food." Darry jumped off his mother's bed and followed his father out the door with Soda trailing close behind. Darrel tried to strike up a conversation with his sons on the way there.

"Did your mother tell you the baby as a boy?"

"Yeah."

"Yep, Ponyboy was born at 3:23 this morning at eleven inches and 6 and half pounds. At first the hospital thought he was premature, he was so small."  
"Wait, you named our new brother _Ponyboy_?" Yeesh, was Darry the only one who have a normal name?

"Funny name"

"I don't know what you're laughing at. Your name is Sodapop!"

"Darry! Sodapop's name is very normal! As is Ponyboy."His father reprimanded. Soda stuck hi tongue out when his father turned back around.

"After breakfast, we should be able to go see him. What do you guys want?" They had arrived at the cafeteria and Darry and Soda ran up to the counter, shouting.

"I want a muffin! No, a bagel. No, wait, I want some cereal."

"Juice, juice, juice!" Darrel Curtis hurried up to his sons.

"May I have three apple juices and three blueberry muffins?" They ate quickly; Darrel didn't want to leave his wife alone for too long. On the way back, Soda demanded to see the baby.

"No, we'll wait for mommy. She'll come with us to see the baby."

"No! Baby now!"

"Fine. But don't tell your mother." They snuck down to the newborn ward.

"Why are all the babies behind glass, dad?" Darry asked as they searched the name tags for the new baby.

"So there more protected."

"From what?"

"Germs, I guess. There he is. By the baby in the ducky pajamas." Darry and Soda both ran to get a better look at the kid. Darry had to hold Soda up but they both him. He was really small, smaller than the others. He was one of the few babies who were asleep. From what they could tell, he had a puff of reddish hair and rosy pink lips. In baby terms, he was adorable.

"He's asleep." Soda said disappointedly.

"For right now, he'll be up soon. C'mon, you'll mom'll be wondering where we are." Soda was still a bit disappointed, but followed, grabbing Darry's hand.

"Hey boys. Did you have a nice breakfast?"

"We saw the baby!" Soda blurted. Darry rolled his eyes a moaned and put his head into his hand, shaking his head. He couldn't help but smile at his younger son. Susan Curtis looked at both Darry and her husband.

"You went to go see the baby without me?"

"Honey, the kids really wanted to see the child. I couldn't say no. Besides, the baby wasn't even awake or anything."

"Does he look any better?"

"He's still really small, but he's looking a little better than last night." Darry looked from both his t, confused.

"What was wrong with the baby last night?"

"I don't think we should tell him."

"Oh why not. He's old enough to understand his mother argued.

"Fine. Darry, last night the baby had trouble breathing. Remember what I said about him looking premature? The hospital was worried about that, especially since he was two weeks over his due date. They think he should stay here for another week, to make sure nothing is wrong."

"Baby ok?" Sodapop asked, overhearing his father.

"Yeah son, the baby's fine. Just a little small." Despite their father's comforting protests, the boys spent the next whole week worrying about their new brother. Darry even put down his slight dislike for new siblings and promised god he would e the best big brother ever if he let the baby live. Finally, after praying endlessly for a whole week, the newborn baby was discharged out of the hospital to hi two anxious parents.

**A/N: Is this too fluffy? I was afraid it would be. Please tell me what you think by clicking the button below. BTW; some of those things Soda says are supposed to be like that, so don't judge me on my grammar. **


	7. More Nighttime Teachings

**Chapter 7: More Nighttime Teachings**

**Darry: 6**

**Sodapop: 3**

**Ponyboy: 3 months**

Despite that Ponyboy had been alarmingly small when he was born, Ponyboy fit in well with the family. Sodapop loved playing with him a much as he was allowed, but both Curtis brothers were slightly annoyed at the fact that he couldn't sleep through one night without waking up and screeching. One night, Sodapop snuck into his older brother's room after his parents had calmed the baby down once again.

"Darry? Are you up?"

"Who isn't?"

"Why can't the baby sleep?"

"You couldn't." Soda pulled himself up on Darry's bed.

"I can now."

"Only because I taught you."

"Then can we teach Ponyboy?"

"I guess, but I should warn you the teachings take a while to go into effect. At least, it did with you." Soda nodded and led the way to Pony's room. He wasn't tall enough to see into the crib, but Darry was. Darry carefully lifted the small baby out of the crib and carried him to the nearby rocking chair. Soda joined him and they both looked at the baby. Ponyboy was awake, but staring at them with wide innocent eyes.

"Hi Ponyboy." Sodapop whispered. Ponyboy cooed in response.

"Look, I had to talk to Sodapop about this matter so I'm gonna have to talk to you. This whole 'waking up in the middle of the night for a bottle' act ain't gonna cut it. Nighttime is a time for sleep and as your older brothers; we would you slept like the rest of us. Understand?" Ponyboy just kept looking at them with his wide green eyes.

"Okay, now that we got out of the way, I think it's time we properly introduce ourselves. I'm Darrel but you can call me Darry. I'm your big brother and I'll do most of the rule making and I get to be in charge since I'm older. First rule is: No borrowing toys without permission. That goes for you too Soda."

"You can't tell me what to do."

"We just went over this. I can 'cause I'm older. Now introduce yourself to the baby." Sodapop frowned but complied.

"Hi Pony. I'm Soda, and I'm your other older brother. Unlike your _mean _older brother _Darry_, you can borrow my toys anytime. I'm not shellfish."  
"It's selfish dummy."

"That's what I said."

"Is not."

"Is to."

"Is not and you know it. Now shush, we're here for Pony." Darry turned back to Pony, who was smiling at them both.

"You know, you're pretty cute Pony. I bet you get that from me." Pony just kept grinning. The only problem was he seemed to grinning at something beyond them.

"What are you grinning at?" Darry asked. Someone cleared their throat at the doorway. Both of the older Curtis boy's jumped up to see their mother and father there with smirks.

"What's going on here?" Darrel asked.

"We were just visiting Ponyboy. That's all."

"Well, you're both making quiet a ruckus. Give m the baby and get back to bd. I'm sure the baby screaming kept you up long enough."

"We don't mind mom." Darry said, half lying. Soda nodded next to him.

"Get to bed boys. Darry, you have school in the morning, so you need your sleep. And Sodapop, you get awful cranky if you don't get enough sleep, so I don't want any more arguments. Bed." Both boys left the room with a bit of grumbling. Darrel went over to his wife, who was holding Ponyboy.

"And you were worried they would hate the new baby."

"Okay, so I was wrong just this once. But I was right at first. Neither of them wanted a new brother when I told them I was pregnant."

"Oh, all siblings are like that. Hell, I'm sure I said the same thing when I was told I would be getting a new sister."

"Darrel, don't cuss in front of the baby. And let's just hope we don't have to go through this again. I don't think I can stand three boys saying they'd rather die than have a sibling."

"You're exaggerating. Darry and Soda did not say they would rather die than have a new brother."  
"They came pretty close." Susan Curtis muttered, looking down at her child, who had fallen asleep.

"Isn't he just the cutest?"  
"The most adorable baby known to man." Susan gave her husband a look and set her baby back into his crib before setting off back to her room with her husband.

**A/N: Short chapter, I know, but more is to come. This will be my last chapter of the week probably, with school starting tomorrow. Ugh. Please Review!**


	8. The Do's and Don'ts of Revealing

**Chapter 8-Do's and Don'ts of Revealing**

**Darry: 9**

**Sodapop: 5**

**Ponyboy: 3**

In the years that the Curtis's had been living in their small town, the neighbors had learned to accept the fact that they had loud rambunctious children, or the fact that the middle child seemed to like streaking around naked in their front yard. However, no matter how many years the law abiding neighbors had grown accustomed, nothing prepared them for the day Sodapop Patrick Curtis started school. The first sound that filled the peaceful air that hectic morning was an earsplitting shriek, seemingly emitting form the Curtis house.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Now really Sodapop Curtis, stop that right now and come out." Susan Curtis knew it would be hard to get Sodapop ready for school today, but not this hard. It had started off easy; Sodapop had woken up in a good mood, ready to be a 'big boy', and had even allowed his mother to comb his hair, a miracle if any. But when Susan had approached her son with a selected pair of pants, to her great surprise, he had streaked straight into the bathroom, locking it. Now the poor young mother stood in the child's room, holding a pair of pants, and looking forlorn. This was the sight Darrel Curtis Jr. walked in on, coming to investigate the noise.

"What's going on, mom? Why are you holding Soda's pants? Where _is_ Soda?" The nine year old was combing his hair back as he asked these questions, and Mrs. Curtis couldn't help but think; _Why can't all my children be nine? Then they could dress _themselves. Plastering a smile on her face, she walked past her oldest son without answering and toward the bathroom door. As she walked she stopped to pick up a stray lump of cloth. Holding it up, Mrs. Curtis recognized it a Sodapop's new school shirt. The one e had just been wearing. Now honestly, she knew the boy liked to be naked, especially after the neighbors incessant complaints of Soda's 'free adventures' in the front yard, but this was ridiculous. Knocking on the bathroom door, Susan forced motherly love into her voice.

"Soda, dear, please come out. You need to get dressed."

"NO!"

"Why not Soda?"

"I'm not going to school."

"Why? You were excited about school ten minutes ago. What happened?"

"I want to stay with Pony." Oh, not this again.

"Sodapop, Pony is only three. Wouldn't it be better if you played with kids your own age at school?" There was a moment of silence and Susan grew hopeful, any second now-

"NO!" Susan sighed as Darry walked up.

"Soda lock himself in the bathroom?"

"Yes."

"Won't come out?"  
"No."

"Want me to help?"

"Please. I need to go make you and your father and brother lunch. Just get him to come out and get dressed, could you dear?"

"'Course mom, nothing to it." Darry took the clothes from his mother and took her place outside the door muttering about headaches, Susan walked to her tidy kitchen, pulling out peanut butter and bread. She had no sooner spread the first dab of peanut butter when Darry and Soda walked in together, both fully dressed. She dropped the butter knife.

"How, how did you get him to get dressed so fast?" It usually took her a half an hour to get a stubborn Sodapop dressed.

"Magic, I guess." Darry grinned as Sodapop took his seat at the table as Susan went back to spreading. Darry leaned to his mother.

"I should warn you though mom, he's not wearing any underwear." Susan dropped the knife again.

"_What_?"

"Mother! I had to compensate! You know, give him something so he would do something."

"I know what compensate means Darrel. I can't send him to kindergarten without pants!"

"Mom, they'll never notice. He'll be too busy playing to mention it." Susan considered it. She really didn't want her son to go to school underwear less, but if it meant a shirt and pants, well….

"Alright, but just this once. Can you get you and Soda some cereal?"

"Sure mom." Susan had finished with the first sandwich and was on the second when her husband came in.

"Good Morning Sweetie. Mmm, peanut butter for lunch again?" Darrel kissed his wife on the cheek.

"That's the price of having kids." Darrel chuckled ad drifted over to the table, patting his older son on the shoulder and bending down to kiss his younger son.

"Guess what daddy? No panties!" Darrel looked at his wife confused, before shrugging and grabbing his lunch off the counter. His son was always saying weird things. Sooner than she had prayed for, Susan Curtis was parked in front of the school, ready to drop off her sons. It was easier to let go of Sodapop, now that she had done it with Darry, but she was still tearful. Sodapop got distracted so soon b the toys, he didn't see his mother leave.

On the car ride home Susan kept looking at her youngest son, buckled in his car seat, staring out the window. Soon he would be in kindergarten, and then before she knew it, graduated. Tears welled in her eyes again.

"Oh Pony, honey, please promise mommy you'll never leave her. When everyone else has grown up and left, you'll stay with mommy, won't you." Ponyboy just giggled in response. Arriving home, Susan decided to dedicate the afternoon to her youngest, reading him picture books or just playing with him. **Meanwhile….**

Sodapop Curtis was enjoying himself on the swing set, swinging higher and higher until he could just see the big id playground over the fence surrounding the kindergarten playground. The stuff over there looked way funner, but the teacher had said they must stay in the playground fence at all times. How boring. Sodapop had at least made several new kids here, like mommy promised, but they were all whiney and tearful their mothers had left. Big deal. Sodapop got off the swing and let a girl named Mary Sue take it while he went to find something better to do. He saw a kid named Bradley he kinda liked over in the sandbox, playing with a truck, so Soda decided it might be fun to join him.

"Hey Brad, can I play?"

"Yeah, just scoop up dirt with the truck and dump it over here."

"Okay." They played in silence for a while before a looming shadow caught their attention. Soda looked up to see Mary Sue, the girl from the swings.

"What do you want?"

"Yeah, you have cooties. Go away."

"I want to play in the sandbox." Soda looked her over. She was dressed in a pretty white dress and Soda doubted she had actually been here for the sandbox. In fact, Mary Sue had been following him around all morning.

"Too bad. We're playing here. Go away."  
"We can both play."

"No we can't. You might give us the cooties." Bradley sneered. Soda snickered. Mary Sue frowned and turned up her nose.

"Well look who's too big for his breeches." She said, clearly having heard this somewhere and not knowing what it means. But since she was in the presence of other five year olds, that didn't really matter. Both Soda and Bradley knew this was an insult, so Soda rebuffed.

"HA! Show's what you know. I'm not wearing underwear." He shouted, attracting the whole playground's attention.

"You liar. Your mom wouldn't have let you come if you hadn't been. It's not allowed." She said snottily.

"Well I'm not."

"Prove it."

"Fine." Sodapop knew deep in his heart that he wasn't supposed to do it, his mother would be mad. But he hated being called a liar. He therefore unzipped his pans and shoved them around his ankles before standing up. Mary Sue screamed

**A/N: I apologize to all who think this is wrong and gross, but I couldn't help, it popped into y mind before I could stop it. Please review and let me know if you do or don't appreciate this chapter. PLEEEEEEEEASE? With little cherries on top?**


	9. Consequences

**Chapter 9: Consequences **

**Darry: 9**

**Sodapop: 5**

**Ponyboy: 3**

Mrs. Curtis was playing blocks with her three year old when the telephone rang. _Oh, it might be Ellen with the block party information_ Susan thought. But it wasn't.

"Hello, Mrs. Curtis? This is Miss. Capers; you're son, Sodapop's, teacher. There's been an incident at the school and we need you t come down right away."

"Oh my, what happened?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss on the phone, ma'am. Please come down as soon as possible."

"Oh, okay, I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Thank you. Good day." _Click. _Ponyboy had followed his mother to the kitchen and now tugged on her dress.

"Mommy sad?"

"No dear just confused C'mon, we need to go see Sodapop now." Pony's face lit up.

"Sodapop?"

"Yes, let's go."

Susan Curtis couldn't help but to look at the clock on the way to the school. Two hours, the kid could only last two hours? Not even half a day. What could he possibly have done? Well a number of things, but t had been discussed that he would be a good boy. Had he already gone back on his word? In the backseat, Ponyboy was jabbing away in toddler talk, occasionally saying the name Sodapop.

"My, you're talkative today." His mother stated, parking at the school. Pony continued to chatter while she got him out of the car and up the front steps. As she was walking into the building, a little girl and her mother were leaving.

"Mother, I saw his part! All I wanted to do was play in the sandbox, and he showed me!" The girl was whimpering. A suspicion grew in Mrs. Curtis. This girl looked about Soda's age, and she had said something about a boy exposing himself, or something. Could it have been-no, Soda knew better. Heck, maybe this was a good call.

"Hello, I'm Mrs.-"

"Curtis? Your son and teacher are waiting in the principal's office." Any hope that this was a good call dissipated as Mrs. Curtis dragged Ponyboy into the office. There she found an angry looking teacher, a mean looking principal and her guilty looking son.

"Hello Miss. Capers, I believe we spoke on the phone?"

"Yes. Please have a seat." She indicated to a chair next to Sodapop."

"Mrs. Curtis, do you have any idea why we have called you down?"

"Sodapop!" Ponyboy answered, crawling into his brother's lap. Miss. Capers eyed them both, displeased.

"No, why?"

"Mrs. Cutis, it appears your son s not wearing any underpants." The mother decided to take the surprised approach to the subject.

"Excuse me?"

"Your son. He has no underpants on."

"You called me down because he has n underwear on?" She accused, already guessing the truth.

"Er…no, it's just that Sodapop has, um…." The principal now looked uncomfortable.

"You're son exposed himself to his classmates during a.m. recess." Miss. Capers said bluntly.

"Oh?"

"Yes, it appears a young lady was challenging him and Sodapop dropped his pants. To reveal things that young children his age should not be revealing." The lady said stiffly. Susan Curtis turned to her sons.

"Sodapop Curtis, is this true?"

"Yes mama." Soda said, still playing with his little brother.

"Well young ma, we will be talking about his with your father tonight. Is that all then. May I go? I've got things to do." She lied, turning back to the adults.

"Unfortunately, no. We still need to talk punishment. Even though this is your son's er, first offense, it was a very extreme offense, thus we need to take extreme consequential action. The school punishment code indicates a suspension is in order."

"Suspension! He's only five!"

"But of school age. He should have known not to do such a thing. He will be suspended for five days starting tomorrow. He will also be suspended for the day. Understood?"

"Yes sir. Come along Sodapop, Ponyboy." Mrs. Cutis could have thought she heard a snort from Miss. Capers at the sound of Pony's name, but she couldn't be sure. If Soda was having any remorse to the fact that he had done something wrong, he didn't show it. In fact, he seemed pretty cheerful. Susan couldn't blame him. His teacher didn't seem to like him much.

**A/N: Short Chapter, sorry. I would still like those reviews though. And thank you to all who wen ahead and reviewed. Peace!**


	10. Dad

**Chapter 10-Dad**

**Darry: 9**

**Sodapop: 5**

**Ponyboy: 3**

**XxX**

The ride home was silent. Mrs. Curtis was still musing over her youngest son's wrongdoing and his punishment.

"Are you mad Mommy?" Soda finally asked timidly asked from the back seat. He was afraid that his mother had kept silent the whole car ride.

"Yes dear, but not at you. However, we are still going to have a talk when your father gets home. You knew it was wrong to show your private's o that little girl, Sodapop." Sudan admonished lightly.

"Aww, but mom. She started it. She dared me too." Soda lied. He was paying with Ponyboy who was blissfully unaware of the world around him.

"Be that as it may, it was still wrong. Now get Pony out of his car seat please." They had arrived at the house. Soda complied and was following his mother down the walk when he spotted a moving van way down the street.

"Hey Mommy, we have new people." Soda shouted, tugging his mother's hand. Susan looked over to were her son was pointing ad sighed.

"Yes, I suppose we do. I'll have to make them a welcoming gift."

"Do you think they have a kid my age?" Soda asked, ignoring his mother's rambling.

"How would I know? They just moved in. We'll deliver a cake tomorrow. And you can come with me since you have nothing better to do. Honestly, a _week_?" She mumbled to herself, tugging Ponyboy into the door. Even though she had already decided it was pointless to punish Soda for such a frivolous crime, she still made him stay in his room all day, no TV, but he still had his little brother and his toys. While he was occupied with Ponyboy, Mrs. Curtis stared on the cake for the new people down the street. She had just finished mixing together the ingredients and was pouring the batter into a pan when the front door clanged and a loud voice filled the house.

"Alright, where is he?" Darry demanded, dumping his stuff onto the couch as he head to the kitchen.  
"Who dear?"

"You know perfectly well who. Sodapop! The little butthole got into to trouble."  
"How did you already find out?"

"It's all over school how my kid brother flashed some girl them got suspended. How could he do this t me? I'm the laughing stock of the playground!" Darry yelled angrily, pounding his fist on the table. Susan tutted.

"Now Darrel, I think you're being a bit dramatic. Soda just had a little misunderstanding with a little girl. And who's fault was it he wasn't wearing underpants I the first place young man?" Susan hated to add the last part, but it was true. Darry turned a bit red.

"What did you expect me to do? He wouldn't get dressed otherwise!" Susan went back to her baking. Darry muttered under his breath about parents and then stalked out of the kitchen. The TV came on a short while later. Now that the cake was in the oven, Susan decided to cook dinner. Her husband just may be in a bad mood when he learned his middle child got suspended from school on his first day, so she decided that this favorite dinner might lighten the mood. Soon, chicken was cooking, Green beans steaming and mashed potatoes being stirs in with butter and milk. A little later, the door clanged for the second time, signaling the return of her husband. She ran out to greet him before Darry did. She knew her eldest son was still steaming and would just love to get his brother in trouble.

"Hi Darrel. How was work?"

"Fine sweetie. Is that chicken and mash potatoes?" He asked, hugging her and sniffing the air."

"And green beans." He let his hand drop and eyed her suspiciously.

"Oh no, the favorite dinner routine. What happened?"

"I don't know what you're talking about dear."

"Don't give me that. Every time you cook my favorite meal, you have bad news to deliver. Usually about the boys getting into trouble. Was Sodapop streaking in the front again?" Susan sighed.

"Well he was streaking, but not in the front." She muttered. Her husband looked confused.

"What do you me—NO!" His eyes grew wide with realization. "He didn't!"

"He did."  
"Where is he? Boy when I'm done with him."  
"Wait, Darrel. He was provoked by another girl. It was an accident. The por thing got suspeneded form school for a week."

"A week?"

"Yes."

"For streaking?"

"Yes." Darrel shook his head and put it in his hands. He started shaking and Susan went over to comfort hi when a sound escaped him.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha." He looked up. He was laughing so hard he was crying.

"That is so like Sodapop to get _suspended_ the first day of _kindergarten_. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Did you already give him a talking to?"

"Yes."

"Then I suppose I'll let this one slide. But in the future he won't get so lucky." Darrel Curtis said right before he broke down into another round of laughter.

**A/N: Short, I know, but I was too excited about the next chapter to concentrate. You'll like the next one, I swear.**


	11. Steve

**Chapter 11- Steve**

**Darry: 9**

**Sodapop: 5**

**Steve: 5**

**Ponyboy: 3**

**XxX**

By the next morning the tale of Sodapop's 'show and tell' had spread through the down like wildfire. Children had told their parents who in turn told their neighbors. This was why when Mrs. Curtis drove her son the school the next day, heads turned in her direction while whispers broke out and fingers were pointed. Susa sighed. Of course she would be the talk of the town. Last night she had received some calls from her friends, wanting to confirm the story, probably to rightfully gossip about it. She dropped Darrel of in front of the school and kid's heads swung in his direction as he walked onto the playground. More whispering broke out. Susan felt sorry for the kid, having his little brother be the talk of the playground. She looked in the back seat where her other two sons were looking out the window.

"Alright boys. How would you like to meet the new neighbors down the way?" Perhaps this would be a bit of a reprieve from the naked Sodapop talk. I mean, they couldn't' possibly know could they?

Susan left the boys in the car while she ran inside for the cake, which she had finished last night, and then drove them down to see the new neighbors. She hoped to god they were nice at least.

"Now Sodapop, I want you to be nice, even if they don't have a kid, got it?" Soda nodded, but he was looking at the people's front yard, it was scattered with toys. Squirt guns, trucks, and a little boy's bike. Good, the probability he was around Soda's age was high, judging from the toys.

"C'mon mom, hurry. I want to meet the kid." Soda pulled at his mother's skirt while looking widely around the yard, as if the kid would spring up out of thin air.

"Hang on Soda, let me get Pony out." Soda ignored his mother and charged for the front door, his anticipation mounting. His mother squawked after him as she tried to catch up while balancing a cake in one hand and a three year old in the other. She was too late though. A tired looking young woman answered the door. She had curly black hair, which was currently bushy, bags under her eyes, no shoes on, and defiantly no makeup.

"Hi miss. Is your son home?" Soda asked as his mom caught up.

"Soda!" She looked down on him warningly. She looked back at the lady with a warm smile.

"Hello, I'm so sorry about my son, he's just eager. My name is Susan Curtis. I live down the street a ways." The tired women smiled back a little dazed.

"Oh, hi. My name is Maybelle Randle. I just moved in with my husband and son." At the sound of son, Soda looked widely around.

"Yes, well I brought you a cake. To welcome you to the neighborhood."

"Oh." Maybelle looked startled before accepting it. She looked around uneasily. "Would you like to come in?"

"Oh please!" Susan said brightly. Pony was starting to squirm in his mother's arms, wanting down. Susan set him down and straightened up to find Maybelle looking at her sons.

"Oh sorry. These are my sons, Sodapop and Ponyboy. My eldest is at school right now." Maybelle jumped at the sound of Susan's voice.

"What odd names. Do come in." She stepped back and allowed them space to come in. The house was a mess. Boxes were understandably stacked everywhere and the other available space on the floor was littered with toys. Soda and Pony looked like they were in heaven.

"I apologize about the toys. We haven't even started to unpack yet and my son, Steve, still manages to find his toys and scatter them. Why don't you folks go into the living room while I start some coffee?" She pointed to some toy obscured hallway and battled her into yet another room scattered with toys. Pony was rummaging through the toys now and came up with a big plastic fire truck.

"Into the living room boys. Come on." She moved some toys of the couch and took a seat while her sons selected to dive into the toys. At least, Sodapop did. Ponyboy elected to stick with the fire truck, which he was happily rolling across the floor.

"Hey. That's mine." A voice shouted. All three Curtis's looked up to see a boy, about Soda's age, standing on the stairs.

"Who are you and why do are you touching my toys?" He had a mean look to him, but had inherited his mother's hair, which hung a little long over his eyes.

"We are welcoming you to the neighborhood." Soda recited, playing with a yo yo.

"Mom! There are some weird kids playin with my toys." Maybelle came running

"Oh sorry Steven. These are the Curtis's. They brought us a lovely cake. Why don't you play with them while I and Mrs. Curtis have some coffee?" Steve grumbled as the women walked away but looked the new boys up and down.

"What's your name?" He asked, plopping down next to Sodapop.

"Sodapop."

"That's not your real name!" Steve mocked

"Is to. And this here is Ponyboy." He pointed to his brother who was playing with the truck still, unaware of what was going on.

"What a dumb name for a baby." Pone looked up, sensing the boy was talking to him.

"No baby." H said quietly. He rolled the truck around before it was snatched out of his hands by Steve.  
"Yes, you are. And no babies playing with my toys. Here, play with this instead." Steve tossed Pony a rd rubber ball. It hit Pony in the face, who sat stunned for a moment.

"Hey, leave Pony alone. He just wanted to play with the truck." Soda snapped, protecting his baby brother.

"Calm down doofus, I was just thinking of his safety. With the ball, he can't end hurting himself. Now-" He was cut off by a re ball hitting his head with the force that seemed to belong o something other than a three year old.

"Hey!" Steve shouted, turning to Pony. Pony sat, looking at Steve indignantly.

"Twuck." He said firmly.

"No."

"Yes." Pony lunged and snatched the truck, and Steve pulled back, trying to pry it away.

"Get off. It's mine."  
"Twuck!" Pony yelled. Steve went to grab Pony off but accidently ended up hitting Pony on the cheek, hard. Pony let go of the truck and sat in shock as a red mark spread on the cheek. Steve and Soda watched in horror as Pony's eyes started to water and his bottom lip jutted out.

"Uh oh. Now you've done it." Soda whispered as a whimper came from Pony. Tears started falling freely and a soft sobbing sound grew louder.

"No, Pony. Shh!" Steve hissed, sneaking a lance in the direction of the ladies. His mother would kill him. The sobbing grew louder and more tears began to free fall down Pony's chubby cheeks. It was too late to shut him up because the ladies came running in a minuet late. Mrs. Curtis ran over to pony as he began to wail and Mrs. Randle just looked at Steve in a disapproving way.

"Oh, what's wrong sweetheart. What happened to your cheek?" Mrs. Curtis cooed. Ponyboy pointed t his cheek and kept crying.

"I know sweetheart. What's wrong with t? Why is it red?"

"Steve it him." Soda answered. Mrs. Randle turned to her son.

"Is this true Steven?"

"It was an accident mom. I was just trying to get the fire truck. I didn't mean to hit him."

"To your room Steve. We will talk later." She turned back to the crying child and his mother.

"I am so sorry for my son's behavior. Is he okay?"

"I think so. He's just no used to being hit." Mrs. Randle ducked down and picked u the fire truck that had made so many problems.

"Here. As an apology, Pony and Soda can keep the truck. I'm sure Steven has a ton of these scattered all over the house."

"Oh no, that's fine, really." But Pony already had the toy in his hands.

"Twuck!" He had stopped crying when he got the toy. Mrs. Curtis smiled.

"Well okay. But you have to share t, understand.

"Twuck!"

"Thank you for coffee Maybelle. I should get Pony and Soda home, but I'm sure I'll come back soon."

"Of course. I'm so sorry m son hit yours." The women walked to the door talking about naughty kids and arranging another play date. On the way home, Pony was obsessed with truck while Soda chattered on.

"When can we go back there mom? I like that kid."

"I don't know Soda. He seems a bit rough on Pony."

"Mom, they were just fighting over the toy. I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"Well, I suppose. I'm sure we'll go back soon."

**A/N: I am soooo excited about this chapter!**


	12. Dinner

Chapter 12-Dinner

Darry: 9

Sodapop: 5

Ponyboy: 4

Steve: 5

Two-bit: 7

XxX

It was two days after Ponyboy's fourth birthday when Darry came home with some exciting news.

"Mom!" He shouted, bursting through the front door. "I met this really funny kid at school today and he wants to come over for dinner. Can he? Pleeease?" Mrs. Curtis looked p from the plate of cookies she and Pony were eating.

"But Darry, Soda's already bringing over his new friend. I'm not sure I can handle two obnoxious little kids."

"Aw, mom. My friend ain't that obnoxious. And why does Soda keep bringing that Steve kid over here anyway? He's a total jerk to Pony!"

"Now Darry. I'm sure you're just over exaggerating. Remember that Steve doesn't have any siblings, so he isn't use to a younger kid around all the time. He'll come around."

"Sure he will. Anyway, can I please invite Keith over? Pleeease." Mrs. Curtis sighed.

"Alright. I guess its fine. Dinner's at seven."

"Thanks mm!" Darry grabbed some of the cookies and ran back out the door.

"Steve?" Ponyboy asked his mother.

"Yes dear. Steve again." Pony gave a squeak and ran upstairs.

Keith POV.

I had met that Curtis kid during recess. He was one of those fourth graders who always came to read to my second grade class. I think his name was Darrel.

"Hey." I said, approaching him and his friends.

"Hey. Aren't you that Keith kid from the reading days?" He asked.

"The one and only."

"Yeah. I remember you. You're the one who called the teacher a meddling bitch and got sent o the office."

"Hey she was and I was only speaking the truth. Doesn't it say in the contuition that I have the right to the freedom of speech?"

"It's the Constitution. And I'm sure it didn't mean second graders had the right to call their teachers meddling bitches. What do you want?"

"I was wondering if I could play with you guys." Darrel looked at his buddies. Most of them just shrugged.

"Okay then, I guess. We're about to play mulch, if you want to join you have to be it."

"How do you play mulch?"

"Easy. You close your eyes and spin around for 10 seconds, and then you keep your eyes closed and try to find all of us. By tagging."

"Why is it called mulch?"

"Because if you think any of us are on the mulch, you shout out 'Mulch' and if any of us are, then their it."

"Okay. I think I got it." I closed my eyes and heard all the kids run away. I began to spin, counting to ten out loud. By the time I hit five, I felt like I had just drinken all of my dad's 'adult juice'. I hit nine and felt like puking, but I stumbled on toward where I thought I heard the other kids run to. I had to put my hands in front of me so I wouldn't bump in to anything.

"Mulch?" I half shouted, half-asked. Nothing. It was scary, walking around blind. I kept thinking I would run into something. I tried to find the playground structure I was sure all of them were on, but I kept bumping into kids. Since none of them shouted 'Oh, you got me' I assumed they were other kids. I really wanted to peek, but if the older kids saw me peek, I would have to just spin around again, and I still hadn't got over the first spin. I ran into the fence twice and then I ran into something big and hard. I fell down and had to open my eyes. There was a big shadow over me and I looked up into see Mrs. Smith, the meanest second grade teacher to ever step foot in this school. She was also my teacher.

"Keith Mathews. What are you doing?" She shrieked at me. I backed away from her and got to my feet.

"Playing a game Mrs. Smith."

"A game where you go around running into people? That doesn't sound like a very productive game. Perhaps you should go see Principal New-" She was interrupted by a group of kids who had run up to us. It was the kids I was trying to find. Darrel was in front, catching his breath.

"Hey…Mrs.…Smith. We're…sorry…bout…Keith. It...was…my…fault." They were actually taking the blame? Usually the older kids here were real jerks. Mrs. Smith's face lit up like a candle. She really liked Darry.

"Oh, well. Do be more carful Darrel. I'll be seeing you next reading day?"

"Yes Mrs. Smith. Can't wait. C'mon Keith." I looked back at Mrs. Smith who had lost the rosy glow and was staring at me coolly. I gave her a grin before running after Darrel.

"Hey Darrel, man-" I started.

"It's Darry. Just Darry." He interrupted.

"Oh, Darry Thanks for helping me outback there. Mrs. Smith can be a real crab."

"Not really. She probably doesn't like you because you called her a bitch." Probably.

"Hey Keith. You wanna come over to my house for dinner tonight?" I jumped, surprised. I had just met this guy and he already wanted to hang out. Better play it cool.

"Sure Darry. I'll have to talk to my mom first. I'm sure she'll be down with it though." He grinned as the bell rang.

"Se ya later Keith." This kid is really cool.

**XxLaterxX**

School was out and I was waiting for Darry to come meet up with me. I figured we could go ask my mom then spend the day doing whatever. I whistled while I waited, some tune from this TV show I really ike. It's a cartoon about a mouse.

"Hey Keith, you ready?" Darrel had arrived.

"Yup. I don't live too far. Just down Magnolia St."

"Oh, I live two streets over. Let's hurry. I still gotta tell my mom your coming over." I laughed and we both ran all the way to my house. I stopped outside. My front lawn was littered with the baby toy' my year old sister insisted on spreading around.

"Sorry bout the mess. My baby sister doesn't like clean much." Darry grinned and we started up the walk."

"Hey Mom! I'm ho-"

"Keith! Be quiet. I just put your sister down." My mother came out from the nursery red in the face. I don't think she'd mind if I left for the night.

"Sorry," I whispered. "This is Darrel. He invited me over to dinner tonight. Can I go?" A cry came up from the nursery. My mother began to search the ground and table for something.

"Uh, yes Keith. Just be home in time…time for dinner." He said distractedly.

"But mom, I'm going to Darrel's house for dinner, remember." My mom just waved me off and stood up with a stuffed toy in her hand. I turned back to Darrel.

"I guess it's okay. Not really sure. She gets like this with the baby and all."

"It cool. Let's go tell my mom." We ran to his house too. By the time I got there I was way out of breath. His house was clean and tidy. He definitely didn't have a baby in the house.

"I'll be right back. Stay right here." He disappeared inside and I sat on the front steps, digging my toe in the ground. A yell made me raise my head. It was across the street, in a dark house. There was a woman yelling, and a man joining in every once in a while. I frowned; trying to get a better look at what was going on. The door clattered behind me. Darrel was wearing a frown.

"Is it a no go?"

"No your allowed, but my brother is bringing his jerky friend over too. I sometimes don't like him."

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah two younger ones. Sometimes it's a real pain."

"Tell me about it. My baby sister Bettie never shuts up. I can't even sleep, she screams so loud at night." The house was yelling again. Both me and Darry looked at it.

"Oh don't mind that. It's the Crazy Cade place. They're always yelling." I shrugged and Darry began pulling me into the house. It was really clean in the house. Could have sworn I could smell bleach. It definitely didn't look like three boys lived here.

"C'mon, I got something in my room I want to show you." There was a lady in the kitchen, but I didn't have time t say high are even look at her. Darry's room was spectacularly clean too. It was starting to get nauseating.

"Your house is really clean, man."

"Yeah, mom hates even the thought of dirt. You should have seen her after I was out playing in the mud one day. Just about fainted." He had a bunch of sports things, a baseball and glove, football, even a hockey stick.

"You sure like sports a lot." His reply was never heard because his door opened a second later.

"Hey Pony what do you need?" It was a small kid wt a fire truck. I must be Darry's younger brother.

"I need to hide this."

"Why?"

"Steve." The kid looked at me.

"Hi. I'm Keith!" He just stared at me with those big round green eyes. It was a bit unnerving. Then he carried is toy over to Darry's bed and started to shove it under his bed.

"That's my youngest brother, Ponyboy." Ponyboy? What an odd name. Pony got back up and started to leave. At the door he turned around to face me.

"I'm _not_ a baby!" With that he ran out. That was uber weird. I turned to Darry for an explanation but he just shrugged.

"Long story. Hey, check out this base ball card."

**XxDinnerxX**

Mrs. Curtis had obviously been trying to impress er guests because dinner was beyond words. There was this really good meat stuff followed by buttered vegetables and these really light and delicious rolls. I was setting in on dessert when the table talk began.

"So what did you doin school today Soda?"

Oh, the teacher was boring us to death about some puppy named Oswald, so me and Steve started throwing clay. She never did figure out who was behind it." His mother tutted.

"That wasn't very nice." Sodapop, Darry's other oddly named brother just shrugged at her.

"What about you Darry?"

"The same usual boring stuff." Mrs. Curtis sighed.

"Well what about you Pony?" The youngest Curtis was busy eating his vegetables and jumped when he heard his name. It wasn't Pony who answered however.

"No need to ask him. He cried and sucked on is bottle all day!" The kid next to Soda bawled out. He started laughing insanely after that. That must be Soda's jerky friend Steve. Soda added in his own chuckles and I heard Darry kick him under the seat. Soda mouthed what so Darry nodded toward Ponyboy. He had his head down low, looking dejectedly at his plate.

"I'm not a baby." He whispered. Is that why he had said that to me earlier? It made sense now.

"Yes you are!" Steve exclaimed.

"Hey now." Mr. Curtis jumped in, seeing his youngest son being picked on. Steve gave Ponyboy a dirty look but went back to his meal. He really didn't say much after that. No one did. When it was finally time to leave, Darry walked with me.

"That was fun." I commented on the way back.

"No it wasn't. Steve kinda ruined the whole thing." Darry grumbled.

"Nah, not really. Although, the kid looked like he was ready to cry."

"Yeah, he hates being called a baby more than anything. So naturally Steve does it." Darry grumbled. Once again we were outside my house and it looked as though my mother had a least tried t straighten up a bit. The numerous baby toys were in a large pi by the door and all the real outside were piled under a big tree in my front yard. It was better than nothing I guess.

"So, uh, do you want to come in or something?" I wasn't sure how cranky my mother would be at this hour. This was usually the time Bettie threw her fits. Darry did another one of his shrugs and I took it to mean a yes. Sure enough, he followed me up the cracked and weathered walkway, and up my crumbing stairs. I'd never really thought about it before, but my house was way more run down tan some others, like Darry's. I felt a tad bit embarrassed. As I had predicted, as soon as I opened the door, I was met with Bettie's loud obnoxious cry. Darry winced. I motioned for him to keep quiet and crept through the house. My mother and Bettie were in the nursery, my mother trying to put Bettie to bed.

"Hi mom. I'm back." I whispered gently. My mom jumped. She must not of heard the door open and close over Bettie's cries.

"Oh, Keith, honey. I didn't here you. Who's you friend." She nodded to Darrel, was still behind me.

"This is Darry. The one I had dinner with." She nodded and Darry spoke up.

"Um, Mrs. Mathews. ME and my brother are having a sleepover next Friday. I was wondering if Keith could come." I jumped, surprised. N way, I was being invite to and older kids' sleep over? Way cool!

"Oh, I suppose."

"Thanks. My mom will be happy to hear that. Hey Keith, I gotta go. See ya around school." I nodded, dumbfounded and watched him leave.

**A/N: Good Lord that was a super long chapter. I was thinking about introducing Johnny form the 'Crazy Cade's' next. Whatdya think? Please leave an answer by clicking the review button below. Pleeeease?**


	13. Cake

**Chapter 12-Cake**

**Darry: 10**

**Sodapop: 6**

**Steve: 7**

**Ponyboy: 4**

**Keith: 8**

**Johnny: 6**

**(A/N: This damn list keeps longer and longer. Hard to keep up with ages ;))**

**xXXx**

**Johnny POV.**

My stupid parents were fighting again. It didn't usually bother me much, since the pretty much do nothing but fight, but lately I've notice look at me oddly when I pass by or start whispering at the sight of me. Every once in a while, some kids at school will call me a Crazy Cade. I have no idea what it means, but it's irritating. Today, I had decided to skip the whispers and stares ad had ditched school. This wasn't smart since now I was stuck at home. I was sitting on the couch trying to enjoy some cartoons but my parents yelling kept interrupting that. Glass smashing caused me to jump then wince. That had been a beer bottle, which meant my dad was a) drunk, b) in one of is moods and c) throwing things out of anger. That never turned out well for me, so I swiftly turned the television off and quietly snuck out the door. My mother was yelling about bills now, so she masked my escape. I hadn't taken the time to go upstairs to grab shoes, but luckily it was a warm day. The grass in my yard was long, due to the fact my father was usually too drunk to cut it, and I knew that numerous grasshoppers lived in it. It was a dream of mine to finally catch a grasshopper. Just to see what it really looks like. As soon as I took a few steps into the grass, a bunch of grasshoppers jumped out. I got down on my belly and waited for everything to be calm again. I carefully crawled through the grass until I came into view of grasshopper. It spotted me but stood extremely still, waiting to see if I was bad or not. I stayed still again, to give it the false sense of security so I could grab it. I lunged sooner than I should have and made a narrow escape. I was searching for another one when I felt eyes on me. I sat up and looked toward my house. Had one of my parents quiet yelling long enough to notice my absence. No…the shades were drawn as they always were. I stood up and dusted myself off, looking up and down the street. My gaze finally rested on the house across from mine. There was a little kid, too young for school, standing there, staring and chewing on his finger. He was no older than four, but his stare was a bit creepy. The intensity of the green eyes was enough to make anyone sweat. We both stood there, staring at each other. I had seen this kid before. He had two older brothers, one in my class. In fact, I think Sodapop, the kid's brother, was the one who had dropped his pants on the Mary Sue girl on the first day of school. Yeah, because after he had gotten back, he had attempted to get me to talk to him. After two days of him following me around during recess, he had finally given up. A yell broke through my haze of thoughts. I turned instinctively, but it wasn't my parents.

"Ponyboy! Come in here now. It's lunch time." Ponyboy? He was definitely Soda's brother. Odd names must run in the family. Wander what the oldest brother's name was. Stargazer? Probably. Ponyboy took his hand out of his mouth and turned around toward the woman's, his mother's, voice. He spared me one more glance before running back to his house. _What an odd kid I thought_, going back to my grasshopper hunting

**Anyone POV.**

"Hey mommy. I found a kid." Ponyboy stated, picking at his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He had been amazed to find a kid in the Crazy Cade's yard. Darry had told him plenty about that place and Pony had believed every would of the tall tales, vowing never to go near the house cross from theirs.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, he was jumping around in the grass across the street."

"You mean at the Cade's place?" A wrinkle appeared in Mrs. Curtis's

"Yeah. The Haunted house across the street." The wrinkle got deeper.

"Haunted?"

"Yeah. Years ago, before I was born, the Cades lived there. But one dark storm night, a robber broke in and killed them all. To this day they scream night and day for vengeance against the robber." Mrs. Curtis stopped what she was doing to look at her youngest son.

"Who told you that?"

"Darry." Her eyebrows shot up.

"Guess I'm going to have to have a little talk with him. Listen Ponyboy, why don't you go ad bring him over to play. I'm sure he would like that much better than jumping in the grass." Ponyboy needed no more invitation. Perhaps Mrs. Curtis should have worded the question differently; because Ponyboy marched across the lawn and only paused at the edge of the road to look both ways. Johnny, who had returned to grasshopper searching, sopped and looked at the odd Ponyboy kid again. Ponyboy bounded across the road and straight for Johnny. Without saying a word, Ponyboy grabbed Johnny by the wrist and began pulling him back across the road. In Pony's mind, his mother had never mentioned _asking_ this kid to come and play and there was no way he was missing out on bringing a friend over. _If _this _was_ his friend. Surprised, Johnny gave a squeak and tried to pull back, but Pony was a strong four year old. In no time, they were on Curtis property. Pony didn't hesitate in walking across the lawn and right into the house. Pony didn't stop until he had reached the kitchen where his mother was washing dishes.

"This is him." Pony stated, dropping Johnny's wrist with finality. Johnny looked like a scared dog. Mrs. Curtis looked up, surprised her son had retrieved the kid he was talking about so quickly. She smiled and crouched down.

"Hello. I'm Mrs. Curtis, Ponyboy's mother. What's his name?" She asked, turning back to her beaming son. He shrugged.

"I dunno." Mr. Curtis raised her eyebrows again. She swore this kid was getting more and more like his older brother every day. This sounded like something Sodapop would do.

"Sweetie, could you tell me your name?" She asked kindly. Johnny put his finger in his mouth and mumbled his name.

"Johnny….Cade." However, his answer was so muffled, Ponyboy heard 'Johnny Cake'.

"Hi Johnny Cake. My names Ponyboy." Pony said quietly, matching Johnny's shy tone.

"Why don't you take Johnny up to you room to play, Ponyboy? I'll bring you snacks later." Ponyboy again grabbed Johnny's wrist and proceeded to pull him up all the stairs to his and Soda's shared room. Pony left Johnny in the middle of his room while he wandered over to the toy chest at the end of Soda's bed. It was mostly Soda's toys in the chest, but Soda didn't usually mind when Pony played with his toys. Ponyboy pushed the entire toy chest over, and a cascade of toys fell at Johnny's feet.

"Toys?" Ponyboy asked simply. Johnny bent down and picked up the closest toy, Soda's toy robot. There was wind up mechanism on the back, so Johnny turned the metal piece and watched in childish delight as the robot's feet moved and its eyes blinked red and green. Pony grinned at the robot.

"Wanna play robots and aliens?" Johnny looked up and nodded. Ponyboy started searching Sodapop's toys for a alien. He came up with a plastic alien ship with a alien painted and the ship's window. They spent the rest of the afternoon pretending they were aliens and robots, pretending to blow up and destroy things. They only stopped when the door slammed, announcing Sodapop and Darry's arrival home from school.

"Soda! Darry!" Pony shrieked, running out the bedroom door. Johnny followed at a much slower pace. He looked over the stair as he came down and saw the two oldest Curtis kids standing in the front door entrance, listening to their brother's claim of a 'new friend'. Soda looked up as Johnny approached.

"Hey! I know you. You're that Johnny kid in my class who wouldn't talk to me. Remember when I talked to you but you just kept ignoring me? Remember? Remember?" Johnny looked at his feet. Luckily, Ponyboy came to his rescue.

"Soda! Johnny doesn't talk. Leave him alone." Soda actually gave up and started for the kitchen. His brother and classmate followed him. Mrs. Curtis was at her usual post at the Stove, and looked up when the group came in.

"Hello boys. I see you've met Pony's new friend."

"Yeah, he's in my class." Soda commented, sitting down at the table for a snack. Ponyboy walked over to his mother and tugged he skirt.

"Hey mommy. You know that sleepover Darry and Soda are having that big sleepover on Friday? I was wondering if I could invite Johnny." He asked quietly. His mother looked thoughtful.

"Well I don't see why not dear. I mean, it's only fair, right?" Pony nodded enthusiastically and went off to his new friend. The afternoon passed by blissfully, and it was after Soda had taken leave to Steve's house and Pony and Johnny were outside playing when Mrs. Curtis called out to her oldest son.

"Oh Darry honey, could you come here for a moment. Me and you need to have a talk about telling tales to your brothers.

**A/N: Well, that's Johnny for ya. BTW, I don't plan on introducing Dallas until Pony's eight, which isn't for a while. Please Review!**


End file.
